Quick Scoop

Joe LaCava is the longtime golf caddie who became a talking point after the 2023 Ryder Cup, when his animated celebration during Patrick Cantlay’s putt led to a tense clash with Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry. Since then, he has mostly been in the news for trying to move past that episode and keep the focus on golf.[3][4][5]

What happened

The biggest recent “what happened” moment was the Ryder Cup incident in Rome, where LaCava’s hat-waving celebration was seen as too much by McIlroy while he was putting. That sparked a heated exchange and a lot of post-round attention, with later reports saying LaCava apologized to McIlroy to help cool things down.[4][3]

Background

Before that, LaCava was best known as Tiger Woods’ caddie, and in 2023 he switched to caddying full-time for Patrick Cantlay. Reports described that move as a difficult but professional decision, tied to timing and Woods’ injury situation.[2][6]

Current context

More recently, coverage has framed LaCava as someone trying to avoid another controversy, especially around Ryder Cup-related storylines. In 2025, he said he was not looking for “any controversy” and wanted the focus to stay on the competition.[1][5]

In one line

If you mean the recent buzz, Joe LaCava is mostly being discussed because of the Ryder Cup “hat gate” fallout, not because of a bigger scandal or off-course incident.[5][3]

TL;DR

\- Joe LaCava is Patrick Cantlay’s caddie and Tiger Woods’ former longtime caddie.[6][2] \- He got major attention after the 2023 Ryder Cup clash with Rory McIlroy.[3][4] \- Later reporting says he apologized and has tried to move on from it.[5][3]